The giant looked down, and, perceiving Hercules, roared out in a voice that resembled thunder:
“Who are you, down there at my feet? And from where did you come in that little cup?”
“I am Hercules,” the hero shouted back, “and I am seeking the garden of the Hesperides.”
“Ho! Ho! Ho!” roared the giant, in a fit of immense laughter. “That is not a wise adventure!”’
“And why not?” Hercules demanded, becoming a little angry at the giant’s mirth. “Do you think I am afraid of a dragon with a mere hundred heads?”
Just at this moment some black clouds gathered about the giant’s middle and burst into a tremendous thunderstorm, causing such a commotion Hercules found it impossible to distinguish a word the colossus was saying. At last the storm passed as quickly as it had come. And there against a background of sullen thunder-clouds, was the mighty giant holding up the sky, while he roared down at Hercules:
“I am Atlas, the mightiest man on earth! And I hold the sky on my head!”
“So I see,” answered Hercules. “But can you show me the way to the garden of the Hesperides?”
“What do you want to go there for?” asked the giant.
“I want three of the golden apples,” shouted Hercules, “for my cousin, the king.”
“There is no one but myself,” said Atlas, “that can go to the garden of the Hesperides and gather the golden apples. If it were not for this little business of holding up the sky, I would make half a dozen steps across the sea and get them for you.”
“You are very kind,” Hercules replied. “And cannot you rest the sky upon a mountain?”
“None of them are high enough. But, if you were to climb to the summit of the tallest one, your head would be pretty nearly on a level with mine. You seem to be a fellow of some strength. Why not take my burden on your shoulders, while I do your errand for you?”
Now Hercules was a man of extraordinary strength, but even so, he hesitated before assuming such a difficult undertaking.
“Is the sky very heavy?” he enquired.
“Not at first. But it becomes a little tiresome after a thousand years.”
“And how long will it take you to fetch the golden apples?”
“Only a few minutes,” Atlas replied, “I shall take ten or fifteen miles at a stride, and be at the garden and back before your shoulders begin to ache.”
“Very well,” Hercules agreed, “I will climb that mountain behind you and relieve you of your burden.”
The truth is, Hercules had a kind heart, and considered he would be doing the giant a favour by allowing him this opportunity for a ramble. And, besides, he thought that it would be more for his own glory, if he could boast of holding up the sky, than merely to do so ordinary a thing as to conquer a dragon with a hundred heads. So without further words; the sky was shifted from the shoulders of Atlas and placed upon those of Hercules.
When this was safely accomplished, the first thing that the giant did was to stretch himself; and you may imagine what a prodigious spectacle he was then. Next he slowly lifted one of his feet out of the forest that had grown up around it; then the other. Then, all at once, he began to caper, and leap, and dance for joy at his freedom; jumping high into the air, but being very careful not to bump his head against the sky. When his joy had subsided a little, he stepped into the sea; ten miles at the first stride, which brought him mid-leg deep; and ten miles at the second, when the water came just above his knees; and ten miles at the third, by which he was immersed to his waist. This was the greatest depth of the sea.
Hercules watched the giant, as he still went forward; for it was really a wonderful sight, this immense human form, more than thirty miles off, half hidden in the ocean, but with his upper half as tall and misty and blue as a distant mountain. At last the gigantic shape faded entirely out of view. And now Hercules began to consider what he should do, in case Atlas should be drowned in the sea, or if he were to be stung to death by the dragon with the hundred heads, which guarded the golden apples of the Hesperides. If any such misfortune were to happen, how would he get rid of the sky? And, by and by, its weight began to be a little irksome to his head and shoulders.
I know not how long it was before, to his unspeakable joy, he saw the huge shape of the giant, like a cloud, on the far-off edge of the sea. As he approached, Atlas held up his right hand, in which Hercules could see three magnificent golden apples, as big as pumpkins, all hanging from one branch.
“I am glad to see you again!” he shouted, when the giant was within hearing. “So you have got the golden apples?”
“Certainly,” Atlas answered, “and very fair apples they are. I took the finest that grew on the tree, I do assure you. Ah! it is a beautiful spot, that garden of Hesperides. Yes; and the dragon with a hundred heads is a sight worth any man seeing. You really should have gone for the apples yourself.”
“Never mind,” Hercules replied. “You have had a nice walk, and done the business quite as well as I could. Thank you very much. And now, as I have a long way to go, and am rather in a hurry—and as the king, my cousin, is anxious to receive the golden apples—will you be so kind to take the sky off my shoulders?”
The giant tossed the golden apples twenty miles into the air, then caught them as they came down.
“As to that—well—I do consider you to be a little unreasonable. I can carry the golden apples to the king, your cousin, much quicker than you could. And as his Majesty is in such a hurry to get them I promise to take my longest strides. Besides, I have no fancy for burdening myself with the sky just now.”
Here Hercules grew impatient, and gave a great shrug of his shoulders. It now being twilight, you might have seen two or three stars tumble out their places. Everybody on earth looked upwards with great alarm, thinking that the sky might be going to fall down.
“That will never do!” cried Giant Atlas, with a great roar of laughter. “I have not let fall so many stars within the last five centuries. By the time you have stood there as long as I did, you will begin to learn patience!”
“What!” Hercules shouted, “do you intend to make me bear this burden for ever?”
“We must think about that one of these days,” replied the giant. “At all events, you ought not to complain if you have to bear it for the next hundred years, or perhaps the next thousand. I bore it for a good while longer, in spite of an aching back. You are most certainly a very strong man and can never have a better, opportunity to prove it. Unborn generations will talk about you.”
“Pish! a fig for such talk!” Hercules said, with another hitch of his shoulders. “Just take the sky upon your head for an instant, will you? I want to make a cushion of my lion’s skin for the weight to rest upon. I might as well be comfortable, if I am to stand here for many centuries.”
“That’s a reasonable request,” said the giant. “But for only five minutes. I do not intend to spend the next thousand years as I spent the last.”
And without further words, he threw down the golden apples, and received back the sky, from the head and shoulders of Hercules, upon his own, where it rightfully belonged. And Hercules picked up the three golden apples that were as big or bigger than pumpkins, and straightway set out on his journey homeward, without paying the slightest attention to the thundering voice of Atlas, who bellowed after him to come back.